RVing Virtual Assistant

January 2009

What sets you apart from your counterparts? Why should a client hire you instead of your next door neighbor? Do you provide a truly quality product? Do you offer something extraordinaryry or just something ordinary? Do you know the difference?

Right now the media is truly manic. We go from the highs of the inauguration and the concept of "change" to the lows of a repeat of the Great Depression. If you listen to the pundits long enough you will be ready for a barrel ride over Niagara Falls.

Don't let all this hype drag you down. Take a good deep breath and remind yourself that the difference between success and failure is one small step. As independents we have a strong advantage right now. Businesses are pulling in their wheels, laying-off employees, reducing inventories, closing offices. But what remains of these businesses still needs our services. It just needs SMARTER services --- less waste, better performance, quicker responses, an extraordinary product.

We can provide those services and at a better price. We can do what large corporations cannot do --- we can individualize our services and nurture each client down the road to success.

When I compare my services to those of other virtual assistants I often think of heirloom tomatoes.

What are heirloom tomatoes?

Heirloom-tomato expert Darrell Merrell is quoted as saying

". . . an heirloom is a plant that's been handed down from one family member to another for several generations. Darrell considers a plant 50 years old or more an heirloom tomato. A lot of open-pollinated tomatoes have come along since then that will someday be heirlooms. An heirloom is generally a plant that's survived the test of time and produced an abundance of tomatoes with great flavor."

"Each heirloom variety has its own story, handed down from one generation to another. Some go back hundreds of years. The oldest tomato is called 'Moneymaker', an English variety between 250 and 300 years old. It was the first English variety grown for market sale -- hence its name." See DYI Network on Heirloom Tomatoes.

Why Are Heirloom Tomatoes Important?

Because the seeds for those tomatoes were carefully saved from each year's harvest, then dried and kept safe until the next planting season. They were handed down from generation to generation, lovingly planted and nurtured until they grew a new crop of luscious-tasting tomatoes. Today's hardy tomatoes owe their sheer existence to these heirloom varieties. But the joy, to me, is having the ability to grow wonderfully tasty tomatoes of a variety someone grew 100 years ago. This tells me someone cared enough to nurture the plants and their progeny through the ages.

If we nurtured our clients with the same diligence as these gardeners tended their plants, we would have healthy vibrant clients --- clients durable enough to succeed in today's failing market. Clients strong enough to grow and expand. Clients strong enough to refer clients to give us great referrals. With their success comes OUR success.

So what IS the difference between ordinary and extraordinary? One extra step -- the willingness to nurture what may be little more than a client's frail idea into a robust and thriving business. In giving more than we take, we truly reap benefits in the end. In these days of financial woe, paying it forward will provide its own rewards.

One of the buzz words you hear often in small business circles is "business plan." Those words are akin to "making a budget" in my book! If you want to turn me off quickly, ask me to put together a business plan. But reality dictates some things in life are necessary. You don't get in the car to go somewhere if you don't know where you are going, do you? Well, you can't get very far with your business either if you don't know where you want to end up.

My departure from SoCal last summer was an orchestrated madness that demonstrates what business plans are meant to do. For more on my trip planning, check out my Squidoo Lens on the right. I planned and replanned that trip. Nothing seemed to work. Finally it hit me --- the problem was I was starting in the wrong place. I was starting in San Diego and working forward. What I really needed to do was START WITH MY DESTINATION and work backwards. Once I did that, things fell in place --- granted it scared me to death when I realized how tight the planning needed to be and what was really involved with getting from Point A to Point B by the target date, but in the end it gave me the roadmap I needed to successfully acquire the coach and tow it back to Missouri, where all my personal things were waiting for me.

You Can't Succeed If You Don't Know What You Want!

Reality Check: What do you really want from your business? If you don't know what you want, how will you know when you are successful? You can't get there from here if you don't know where you are going.

It's easy to lose our direction when we are slogging in the trenches everyday. We work and work and work --- we work so hard that surely we must be succeeding, right? WRONG! If you are working at the wrong things, YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED.

Time for another list:

How much income do you need each month in order to survive?

What market do you want to be serving in 6 months?

What product do you want to be providing in 6 months?

What is your ultimate DREAM for this business? One year from today, what do you want to be able to say about your business?

Now take each item on your list and work backwards.

Divide the monthly amount by 30 to find out how much income you need to bring in each day of each month. Granted, you will have days where you will bring in nothing and days when you will bring in the equivalent of one week's work. But if you break it down into days, it will seem more manageable in terms of planning.

What must you do each day to accomplish this? Make phone calls; drop off brochures; make product to sell?

Based on your hourly rate (if you sell product vs. services, you should know your hourly rate based on the price of your product and how long it takes you to produce it) how much time must you devote to this endeavor each day? Block that time on your calendar as your first job each day. Once you have done what you MUST do each day, you may move on to other projects.

This requires a bit more thought. Your current market may not be your desired market. It may not be your BEST market. Perhaps you could do better in a market nobody has currently approached with your products or services. Think outside the box.

How are you going to approach that market? What/who is the key to unlocking that avenue?

Who do you know who can help you become more visible to prospective clients in arena?

What groups could you join which might give you access to that market?

Working backwards on your calendar, plot out time slots for appropriate meetings and events which will help you make this transition

Are you a one trick pony? Are there additional services/products you could add which would open new avenues of revenue?

Do you need more training? Where will you get that training? How soon is that training available? How long will it take? When can you reasonably foresee being qualified in that new arena? Plug that training into your calendar and highlight the completion date.

Do you need to make a product prototype? Who will make the prototype? How long will it take? What equipment/materials/skills are necessary. Are they readily available or must you order them? Plug these dates and time-frames into your calendar.

And finally, your DREAM. A dream is a star you reach for. Think big --- aim for something that seems beyond reach. If you miss, you are still ahead of the game. If you could wave a magic wand and turn your business into anything --- what would that be?

What separates your business today from your business in that dream?

What will it take to accomplish that dream? Break it down in baby steps --- we have to walk before we can run.

If your dream involves a move, start by researching the new location on the web; send for information and brochures; make contact with a related professional group in that area and see if you can open lines of communication.

If your dream involves expansion of your current situation or working less time and delegating more work to others, figure out what manpower will be necessary to support that dream. Start planning to build your current business to the point where it will sustain the necessary manpower.

If your dream involves adding products to your line, how will you get those products?

Will you make them? Will someone else make them?

Are you or others skilled enough to provide the necessary product stream on a consistent basis?

Build time into your calendar to research any of these applicable issues and the time/moves necessary to accomplish each goal.

Look At That Calendar!

Once you have gone through the above steps, stand back and look at your calendar for the next year. That is your business plan. You may need to flesh out the entries a bit. But at the very least, you have an idea where you are headed. You have a road map. Without such a map, you are headed nowhere fast. You can't get where you are going if you don't know where that is!

Planning backwards is truly the key to moving forward.

OK -- 2009 has arrived. In all it's glory. And, as usual, we are faced with a host of predictions for this new year. Some are wonderful; most are filled with doom and gloom. Well, here's what I have to say about that:

"DON'T THROW AWAY TOMORROW!"

Several folks I know committed suicide during the final months of 2008. Their reasons for doing so were varied. But the outcome was the same. Family and friends left dealing with fear, pain, remorse, and more. Perhaps worse then that --- the loss of opportunity!

The Shelf Life of Problems!

Problems have a short shelf-life in the scheme of things. The problems we are facing right now are fleeting. They say history repeats itself and even a cursory look at the past reveals the truth of that statement. My Mother's favorite response was "This too shall pass." A friend's Mother used to say "In 100 years it won't even be remembered." How true those statements are.

The only problems you cannot solve are the problems you decide to ignore. I love Mary Kay's comment on that: ". . . over, under, around or through." Ain't it the truth. If you ignore the elephant in the room, eventually it will become all-consuming.

As a child my grandparents lived with us. My grandmother had a wicked tongue. Back then we called it senility. Today we'd view it as dementia or Alzheimer's. Grandma's bedroom was the former front parlor on the first floor of our old Victorian house. The stairway leading to the second floor was just outside her doorway. If you went up the center of the stairwell she could see you from her chair. If you shimmied along the left wall, she could not. As a teen I spent several years "inching" quietly along that side wall to avoid dealing with my grandmother. Over time I became obsessed with it. Did it change anything? Nope. Grandma continued to yell and scream at us --- even if we were upstairs. All it did was keep me from confronting her and dealing with her "problems" face-to face. Instead of being pro-active I spent those years being reactive.

Reactive vs. Creative!

As a friend pointed out recently, the words "reactive" and "creative" use the same letters. Good point --- one I never thought about. Instead off wasting time feeling trapped by problems, why not get creative and face those problems directly? The sooner we do this, the sooner we can move beyond the roadblock to something more productive.

What is the greatest problem you are currently facing with your business?

Take a piece of paper and make a list of those items you feel present true roadblocks to your success at the moment.

Rearrange them in order of importance.

Now take a slip of paper and cover all but the first entry on the list. Look at that entry and ask yourself the following questions:

(a) Is it REALLY a problem or just an irritation? (b) If it is a problem, realistically, how soon must you deal with it? (c) Now list 5 ways in which you could deal with it.

Why do I say 5 ways? Because that will force you to think outside the box. There are nearly always alternatives --- some better then others. When I start looking for 5 ways to solve a problem I often come up with some really funny ideas that make me laugh. However, after looking at those off-the-wall ideas long enough, they often contain the seeds for a real solution to the problem. Such innovation is where TRUE problem solving exists. It's what inventors and scientists and mathematicians use to solve problems. It's the difference between ignoring something and finding a workable solution.

Put Together A Creative Game Plan

Work your way through the list --- then reorganize the entries based on the new insight you gained from your careful examination of each issue. Now you have a game plan. You know which problems are the most needy and you have 5 creative ways of dealing with each issue.

If --- like many of us --- you work better with vizualization --- get out the yellow post-its and use a blank wall or closet door to create your "Problem Tree." Tackle your tree one problem at a time. As you try or discard a potential solution, remove/update the yellow stickies. When you solve a problem, remove all the stickies related to that problem. You'll be amazed at how good you will feel watching the problems "shrink" from your wall.

The important thing is this: You can only solve problems if you engage them. Why do you think theater groups have dress rehearsals? Because it brings to the forefront problems which have not yet been identified. Dress rehearsals are where problems are addressed and the show REALLY comes together.

Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal!

Dress rehearsals work well for problem solving --- as long as we stay around for the show. In these tough economic times don't give up before your show hits the stage. Do what needs to be done to move your business forward. Make your list, set your goals and move forward.

Everyone has problems. Everyone face obstacles that feel overwhelming at times. You are unique in what you offer your clients. This market allows all of us a great opportunity to streamline our product and help others survive in difficult times. As small businesses, we are uniquely positioned to provide clients with tools that are both productive and cost-effective. Let them see what we bring to the table -- the value of perserverance and innovation. If WE can do it, surely they can rely on us to help THEM do it. Don't throw away tomorrow. Work at making it better for you and your clients! Lead to succeed!

OK -- we've made it through the first 2 days of 2009. Hopefully it's been a relatively painless transition for you. I confined myself to popcorn and tea on New Year's Eve so I felt great yesterday. I've spent 2 days reviewing my systems, reading blogs, posting on social networks, and wrapping up loose ends.

Now what? That's always the question, isn't it? Now what?

Well --- I think it's about time to hear from all of you out there. What are YOU doing differently for your business this year? What kinds of changes hold the key to your personal success and how do you feel they will improve your business?

You may comment here, or send me an email. If we get enough responses, I'll gather them into a document and make it available for download to those who are interested.

Come on now --- this is your chance. Be creative --- share your ideas and thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you all. Let's start this year with a BANG! 2009 is young and together we can make it a successful year.

A new year lays before us. All bright and shiny. Full of promise and hope. A chance to re-assess our lives and, perhaps, set off in a new direction.

If we are to move forward with assurance, we must first evaluate what has passed before. I find small business owners are often extremely hard on themselves. As a Virtual Assistant, I have a tendency to feel I've not done enough. I think this is a problem common to most solo entrepreneurs. We grow restless in our self-evaluations and often focus on our mistakes rather then our successes.

How Do You Measure YOUR Success?

However, I feel a different problem is far more problematic. Most small business owners spent their formative years in a corporate environment. That environment set forth annually (and often even monthly) certain milestones which had to be met in order for the company to succeed. These measurements generally revolved around large numbers of billable hours, numbers of new clients and the monetary value of each of those clients, and perhaps even quantities of inventory sold. Goals and benchmarks were imposed. You either met (or exceeded) those stated milestones, or you found a different job.

As a solopreneur, those benchmarks hold little value. They are useless measurements in a business where the one and only commodity is you! Corporations measure in miles; solopreneurs measure in inches. To confuse the two is to set yourself up for failure.

This is not to say there is no value in the types of goals and numbers used by our corporate brothers and sisters. Whatever our product, if we do not put it in the hands of consumers, we have lost the battle. But we must recognize the differences in what we do and how we do it if we are to evaluate our efforts in a meaningful way.

What Is Unique About YOUR Business?

Most of our businesses are based on 1:1 relationships with our clients. For many of us, that is the very reason we left the corporate environment. As a small business, we provide clients a level of service and personal needs response which the corporate environment cannot offer. THIS is what we should be evaluating when we seek to determine our success in a prior year. Were we able to accommodate the needs of our clients in a reasonable amount of time? Were we able to meet their emergency requests? Were we available to trouble-shoot when they needed an answer right now?

Similarly, did we interact socially and professionally in a manner that produced positive new relationships? Did we follow-up earnestly on referrals. Did we exchange ideas with other solo professionals and willingly assist other struggling to succeed on their own?

It is so easy to view our success only in terms of the bottom line on a balance sheet. Dollars and cents success is always socially acceptable. However, for solopreneurs it is a false success and often leads to despair. I am convinced it is the largest reason many fail in their solo business attempts.

Granted, we must pay the bills --- which means earning money. I would be the last one to fault making money. But the true measure of our success as solopreneurs is not monetary. For each of us the benchmark of success will be different. Only you can determine what truly produces movement in your business. But until you make that determination, setting new goals is pointless. Just as wearing another's clothing often results in an ill fitting wardrobe, using a corporate measuring stick in evaluating the success of your business will result in inaccurate results.

Use The Right Measuring Stick!

Take time now to determine what is truly important to your business. Why did you start this business? What did you hope to accomplish when you headed down this path? Once you have those in front of you, you can establish a realistic game plan and goals for 2009. You will be more successful and far happier if you do your homework first. In the end, this is YOUR business. Run it on YOUR terms. And above all else --- use the right measuring stick!

Don't be afraid --- make new friends. Try something new. It's good to break out of the routine sometimes! And take a moment to relax and meet some of my favorite friends. Laughing is good for the soul and you'll find more than one laugh in here. Enjoy!

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